Yuan Shuzhi pretended to be surprised and said: "Boatman, how do you know someone is going to jump into the river?"
The boatman showed a scornful expression: "I've seen a lot of things on this river. All these people think it's a piece of cake falling from the sky! Tsk tsk, I bought a piece of waste paper for two yuan, and if I can't think of it, I will throw myself into the river." "
"Waste paper? So..."
"That's right, guest, you are right." The daughter of the Dan family said with a smile, "I think among the guests on the ship, you are always the one who has seen the world. You have not been fooled by them!"
"It's cruel and shameful. Over the years, I have been running around for a living, and I have seen some dangers in the world." Yuan Shuzhi deliberately said, "This is probably not the first time."
"Exactly." The boatman nodded, "This happens once every ten days and a half. I ignore all the regular passengers on this boat, but I can't stand the sight of strangers on every trip. As long as I get greedy, they will fall into their trap. ",
"You are so bold, and you are not afraid of someone reporting you to the official?"
"So what if you report to the officer? There are river branches everywhere here, and you can get on and off the boat at any time. Send people to catch people!" The boatman lit up his cigarette, "You are not considering yourself unlucky! There are people who have been defrauded of their money, or they can save their lives. Money, if you can't think about it for a moment, you will throw yourself into the river."
Yuan Shuzhi didn't think it was strange. It can be said that similar scams are everywhere. Even in the city of Guangzhou, which is now the territory of the Australians, there is the "New Life Movement", "catching the waves", and "public security crackdowns", and all kinds of scams are still emerging in endlessly. Even the old naturalized cadres from Lingao were deceived.
While we were chatting, we saw people who had gone to "beat the head" one after another. Some were pale and dejected, and once they came back, they loudly cursed "I will not die well." Others stamped their feet and beat their chests, scolding themselves for being "obsessed." Yuan Shuzhi looked at it and sighed secretly in his heart.
Sitting across from him was a young man who also bought counterfeit money. After returning from the pier, he sat alone on a slat with his head in his hands. It has been maintained until now, but now the person sits upright. Yuan Shuzhi saw that his eyes were straight and his face was blank, and he knew something was wrong - he was going crazy.
Sure enough, after a moment, he suddenly jumped up from his desk, and his head hit the roof hard, making a loud bang. Everyone was shocked.
This person didn't realize it, and kept jumping around in the cabin, shouting nonsense: "I'm rich! I'm rich! I have a lot of money!" After that, he was giggling wildly and throwing a few counterfeit coins everywhere. throw.
Yuan Shuzhi knew that this person had just spent ten yuan to buy five counterfeit coins. This ten yuan is not a small amount of money, no one can figure it out.
The young man was shouting in the cabin, and there was a commotion in the cabin. Watching him go to the stern of the boat, shouting "I'm going to the Dragon Palace to hunt for treasures", and pretending to jump into the river, the Dan girl hurried over with two boatmen, and finally managed to control him and tie him to the stern of the boat with a rope.
An old man next to him said: "What a sin! He and I got on the boat together. The ten yuan was given by my family to buy medicine to save his life in Huizhou!"
Yuan Shuzhi was just watching the fun, but the old man's unintentional words piqued his interest. He thought that he was sent to Huizhou by Zheng Yuanlao to investigate the counterfeit drug case. This man also went to Huizhou to buy medicine. Is there any connection between the two?
He pretended to be ignorant and said: "Go to Huizhou to buy medicine? Can't you buy it locally? Besides, it's close to Guangzhou. Guangzhou is a big place. What kind of medicine can't be bought? Why go to Huizhou instead of being close?"
The old man looked Yuan Shuzhi up and down, and saw that he was dressed in a "Ming Kun and Bi" attire. He couldn't figure out where he came from, so he said politely: "Who is this, sir?"
"I am a bookkeeper." Yuan Shu knew. "I lost my job in Guangzhou. A friend recommended me to Huizhou to find a job."
"So that's it." The old man whispered, "It turns out you're from Guangfu! You probably don't know that starting last year, the medicine market in Huizhou - the medicine market in Luofu Mountain, do you know?"
"I know, I know, how can I not know about the four major cities in the world!"
"That's it. Since last year, there have been a lot of miracle medicines in the medicine market. They are all effective immediately after one dose. Especially when it comes to symptoms such as sores that won't heal, high fever that won't go away, and persistent coughs, you can try it a hundred times. Tested. It is on par with the Australian miracle medicine, but the price is much cheaper than that Australian miracle medicine..."
Yuan Shuzhi had already known the case from the materials provided by Zheng Mingjiang, and said, "Could it be Hearthstone Powder or something like that? But this medicine is also sold in Guangzhou, so it is not a rare thing. Why go to Huizhou to buy it."
"Sir, do you know about this medicine? That's it. In fact, there is more than one Hearthstone Powder. Although it is sold in Guangzhou, the price is not as cheap as in Huizhou Medicine Market. Therefore, some people are willing to sacrifice the near for the distant."
"So that's it." Yuan Shuzhi nodded and sighed, "This ten yuan is probably the family's capital. Now that he has been defrauded of everything, the patients at home are probably in trouble. No wonder he can't think about it. ”
"Sir, that's not true. It's just that once a person's greed comes up, even mountains of swords and seas of fire can't stop him." The old man sighed, "I went crazy on the ship, and I don't know if I can wake up soon. I'm afraid He is so crazy that he doesn’t know where his home is, so he is living outside! I don’t know how sad his family is.”
There was nothing to say all night. When Yuan Shuzhi woke up the next morning, the crazy young man was gone. I heard from the old man next to me that he made so much noise in the middle of the night that the boatman drove him to the shore and left him to fend for himself, as long as he didn't die on the boat.
The boat traveled for more than ten miles. When there was wind, the sails were hung, but when there was no wind, the poles were poled. In some places, the boatmen were asked to go down and carry the boat all the way eastward. At noon, we arrived at a bend in the river. The water flow was gentle and the river was wide. A tributary joins the Dongjiang River here. This is a flat land in a river valley, where a lot of people gather, forming a large-scale grass market with two restaurants and many tea sheds. Many passenger and cargo ships stop here, loading and unloading passengers and cargo.
The boatmen also stopped their boats here to tip off. Let the passengers also have some fun ashore.
This place was no longer within the scope of Yuan Shuzhi's usual travels. He had been on the boat for a day and a night, and his hands and feet felt stiff, so he took advantage of the opportunity to stop the boat and go for a walk to loosen up his muscles.
This market is close to Jiangbei River and has convenient transportation. Agricultural products from four townships and commodities from all over the world are mostly distributed here, so it is very prosperous. Today is another market day. People and vendors from all over the place come to the market. The market is very lively.
After walking a short distance, I saw many people surrounding the pier, and some people were faintly shouting. He was probably selling something.
Yuan Shuzhi moved over on a whim.
There were three floors inside and three floors outside the berth. Yuan Shuzhi protected his bag and squeezed in carefully, only to see a cargo ship moored on the shore, with a "travel material" parked in the boat canopy. There are more than a dozen wooden boxes piled on the dock, all bearing the name of Zichengji and the brand "Guoshi Wushuang".
There was a straw mat next to the pier. Kneeling was a woman and three children of different ages. They were all filial and crying beside them. Only a middle-aged man wearing a white mourning belt was explaining and shouting.
After listening to his shouting, Yuan Shuzhi realized that it was a northern businessman who originally lived in Guangzhou. He imported a batch of "unparalleled national scholars" from Guangzhou Ziji and wanted to transport them to the north for sale and send his children back to his hometown. When Bu Hexing arrived here, he suddenly suffered a sudden illness and died, leaving behind an orphan, a widow, and a shipload of goods.
Before he died, the businessman asked his steward to sell the wine at a discounted price and then send his wife, children and coffin back to his hometown after getting the money.
"...Everyone, please do a good deed and take pity on this orphan and widowed mother. She has to carry her coffin back to her hometown after wandering as a traveler. It is very difficult. If you have a good drinker, buy a bunch. You will get benefits and accumulate karma. Our master The spirits in heaven will also be grateful..."
The steward burst into tears when he talked about the emotional part. In addition, the orphan and widowed mother kneeling on the reed mat next to her wailed in grief, causing the onlookers to sigh and sympathize. Now there are people willing to buy wine to overcome the difficulty.
Yuan Shuzhi saw that all the wines sold at the berth were Guoshi Wushuang's best wines, and the boxes had the stamp of "Purple City" on them. I couldn't help but be moved. Then I heard from the manager that Australian banknotes were not recognized in the Ming Dynasty outside the boundaries of Guangdong. If you receive a bunch of banknotes, you have to go back to the city to exchange them for silver. Therefore, we only accept silver dollars, and all items are discounted by one dollar; the other is to sell out quickly and leave, so this wine is not sold retail, at least six bottles per box.
Although it was a tearful sale, one yuan per bottle was far beyond the purchasing power of many people. In addition, there was also a box for sale, which was an unbearable price for ordinary people. Many people who were originally eager to try it suddenly left.
Seeing that no one came to buy it, the manager asked the waiter to open a box and take out two bottles of wine and a few gourds and gourds. road:
"These are the unparalleled Guoshi that our boss imported from Zichengji! If you want to drink them in a restaurant, don't worry if you don't have five or six yuan. If you don't believe it, come and have a taste and you will know if it is real or fake!"
Everyone was talking about it. At this time, a few people hurried over, pushed aside the people outside and went in, shouting: "Let me take a look first, leave me two boxes!"
Yuan Shuzhi was pushed and taken to the inner floor. Yuan Shuzhi heard a few people chatting next to him and said that these people seemed to be the shopkeepers of a local restaurant.
The owner of the restaurant refused to drink the open wine and had a few words with the manager. At that moment, he opened another box, took out a bottle, tasted it with a ladle, and nodded. The boy next to him immediately took out twelve white silver coins and handed them to the steward.
The manager was overjoyed. He took the money and bowed to the end, thanking him repeatedly. The shopkeeper said: "It's really not easy for an orphan and a widower to live outside!" After that, he ordered the clerk to take a dollar, wrap it in white paper and hand it to the filial woman.
"This is my little tribute. Let's return the coffin home so that we can raise our children." After saying that, he asked the waiter to carry the wine and left the crowd. The crowd praised him, saying that he was a good person.
(End of chapter)
